Influence of leader’s emotional intelligence on psychological safety and performance of employees: Evidence from the Australian Hospitality Industry

My research explored the influence of leaders' emotional intelligence on employees' psychological safety and performance in the Australian hospitality industry. This research highlights the need for ethical leadership alongside emotional intelligence to foster inclusive and safe workplaces. This research found that emotional intelligence boosts employee well-being and performance. However, emotional intelligence alone cannot fix systemic issues like inequality or unethical leadership. Business goals often overshadow employee well-being, reducing psychological safety. This study adopted a qualitative case study approach, involving semi-structured interviews with 20 participants from multiple restaurants in Victoria. The data was taken from two different question sets (one group of leaders and a second group of front and back staff, respectively) to draw responses towards emotional intelligence, psychological safety, wellbeing, and performance of employees in the Australian hospitality industry.